No plan to strip Saif Ali Khan of Padma Shri: Government

Ending speculations, the home ministry on Thursday denied any move to strip actor Saif Ali Khan of his Padma Shri award in the wake of a Mumbai court framing charges against him for assaulting an NRI businessman at a city hotel.
“The home ministry’s reply to the RTI filed by S C Agarwal to know the status of his own complaint, stating that the matter is under examination, is a routine response to any query that relates to a pending complaint. The home ministry has to call for necessary records from the state government or the courts to validate the charges made in the complaint … this takes time and the merits of the complaint are finally decided on the basis of these records. Until then, technically, the matter is said to be under examination,” a senior home ministry official said, adding that such a response was not reflective of an endorsement of the complaint.
Though Padma award rules state that the “President may cancel or annul the award of the decoration to any person”, they are silent on the fate of the awardees in the event of his being charged or convicted by a court of law at a later date for any offence.
“Due diligence is done, including a background check by the intelligence agencies, before a person is conferred the Padma award. Also, a multi-member expert committee screens the nominations for the civilian honor this process was duly followed while processing Saif’s case,” a home ministry officer said.